Watch the full video hereEUREKALERT, ANDREA PANIGADAType 1 diabetes is caused by the destruction of insulin-producing ß cells of the pancreas by the body’s own T cells. But why do these cells wreak such havoc in the first place and how might they be stopped?
A report in Science Translational Medicine today (November 15) suggests the immune systems of both diabetic mice and humans lack a suppressor protein called programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1), which normally keeps T cell activity in check. Raising levels of PD-L1 in immune stem cells restored these cells’ ability to tame T cells in culture and to prevent hyperglycemia when transferred into diabetic mice.
“This is great work,” says Camillo Ricordi of the Diabetes Research Institute Foundation in Florida who was not involved with the study. “The whole name of the game now [in diabetes research] is modulating the immune response and trying to restore self-tolerance . . . so they are right on target with their approach,” he says. “I’m looking forward to seeing ...
